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Everybody has goals and dreams (at least they should). This articles elaborates on one of the main reasons why people’s dreams remain just that: dreams.

Toughen up physically. Develop spiritually. Earn six figures. Run a marathon. Get that supergirl. Buy that dream house. Very few people do something about it. Even fewer actually accomplish it. What do those people that get to do something have in common? What do those few that actually live their dream have in common? And why are they so few?

The answer is that the people who actually get to the doing something part have decided to put in the hours. They decided they want to make it work, and they are willing to spend their time on it. The people who actually live their dream are the people who put in even more hours, and who pursue that dream with passion.

How many hours do you put in every week towards accomplishing your dream? How about every day? How much progress have you made in the last two months?

Unless you start allocating time to your dream, it simply won’t come true.

Where do I get that time?

People today are very busy with work, family life, social life etc. Even 30 minutes per day seems a lot to fit in, not to mention 2 hours or more. In my experience though, I don’t have time for this really means something else. If you know what it means, you’re on the right track. If not, well, it really means this is not high enough in my priority list or I’m not motivated enough to do this (which is more or less the same). This is true at work, at home and everywhere. Your manager asks you to write the report, and you tell them you don’t have time because you need to work on the schedule. They then tell you that the report is way more important because the customer visit is tomorrow first thing. Suddenly you do have time for the report, and don’t have time for the schedule. Your spouse asks you to take out the garbage. You don’t have time for this because you’re installing the new video game for the little one. Then they remind you that the Jacksons will show up any minute now, and guess what, that video game can wait for a while.

It’s very important to understand this, so I’ll say it again:

I don’t have time for this really means this is not high enough on my priority list.

Think about it, and you’ll realize that it’s true. If it were high enough on your priority list, you’d have time for it. It just simply isn’t. Going out with your friends is higher on the list than working towards your dream. Watching that football game is more important than your dream. The new TV series is more important. Instant messaging with friends is more important. Getting the beauty sleep is more important. Video games are more important. Working long hours is more important. Come to think about it, EVERYTHING in your life is more important than pursuing your dream. Surprising, isn’t it?

At this point, some of the more stubborn might ask so, what am I supposed to do? Quit work or ignore my family? If you’re asking this, then the first step towards your dream should be easy: find a way to get time. Set your goal to 30 minutes per day. If nothing else works, waking up 30 minutes earlier should do the trick for most people. I trust your ability to find a way of allocating 30 minutes per day to your dream .

How will 30 minutes per day get me there?

If your dream is to write a book, the answer is obvious. If your dream is such that it’s not obvious how 30 minutes per day will get you there, then I suggest you spend these 30 minutes doing research, and finding what changes you must bring to your life in order to align it to your dream.

You can also start by identifying the don’t-s if you want, that is, by elimination. If your goal is to earn a million dollars, then ask yourself how many people in your office are millionaires? How many people in the world who have a job similar to yours are millionaires? How many promotions would you need to earn enough? Is it even possible in your company? The conclusion is that you will not achieve your dream by staying in that company. So spend your 30 minutes per day identifying what are other ways that you can contribute to the society so much that you’ll become millionaire. Make sure you choose something that you are passionate about, because without passion your dream will have a bitter taste. After enough thinking and researching, you will have gained enough confidence to make that step. The key is to allocate this time.

An additional tip is to make spending this time as formal as possible. You enter dream pursuing mode. You don’t read email at the same time, you don’t chat with friends, and obviously you don’t choose to allocate the 30 minutes of thinking in bed before you go to sleep. If possible, get into a room alone, with no distractions. Write down ideas, whatever crosses your mind, in a journal. Do this for a week, and then read back what your thoughts were on day one - you’ll be surprised at how much progress you did in just one week. If done right (no distractions) it clears your mind, and gives you focus. I also trust your ability to identify the changes you must bring to your life in order to align it to your dream.

Again, some of the stubborn and impatient people would find that pursuing their dream is not possible for objective reasons: it would require that they take a 4 months unpaid vacation or quit their job altogether to go on that expedition to the Himalayas. And this simply cannot happen: the family cannot afford this. If this is your case, you need to get into the active mindset and think some more. Spend the time trying to find alternative sources of income for your family, or some ways to cut costs. Maybe you’ll spend more time with the kids so that your spouse can work on that book they want to write, finish it in six months and in one year things would be completely different. Search the internet for some freelance opportunities that could get you some extra money. If your goal involves creating a web site, consider paying someone to do it rather than doing it yourself - I have a friend who does this, he pays his employee approximately 100 EUR per month, you can find someone to build your site too. Again, I trust your ability to figure out what’s next. Just put in the hours.

Taking your chances

After enough thinking, you may come up with several ways to get there. Some riskier than others, but also getting you there faster. If you live alone or have nobody depending on you, you might go for a riskier way. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? You’d get a few bruises and you’d have to get up on your feet again. It can only end up by you learning from it, and being better when taking the next try. It’s more difficult to take chances if you’re providing for a family. You’ll choose less risky ways, but you’ll eventually get there, and it will have been worth every minute of it.

It’s a learning process

Learning takes time, literally. The more time you put in, the sooner you learn, and the better you are at it. If you’re not actively doing anything to change your current situation, then you are in your comfort zone (which may or may not be comfortable). As you step outside of it into the unknown, you’ll see treasures in the distance, but there’d also be some obstacles in between. Your attempts to get just past one obstacle may fail (and hurt) several times, but you’ll definitely learn and become stronger in the process.

It starts with allocating time. Things don’t just happen, something or someone has to trigger them.

Read also: Put in the Hours: Quality.